Teacher's license proposal to be put before Sindh cabinet, says education minister

Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah Friday said that a policy about licensing of teachers will be put forth before the cabinet soon.

While participating in the '1st International Teachers' Conference' in Karachi, he said "the teachers' licences will be a sign of a teacher's professional quality and importance and they will also be able to get legal protection after the licences." 

The conference has been organised by Durbeen — a non-profit organisation established with the goal of raising the quality of education in government schools across Pakistan.

Addressing the event, the provincial minister said that the curriculum of Sindh had been inclusively compiled with life skills and pluralism, and a programme had also started to make the teachers' training institutes across the province more active.

He further said "the draft to start the licensing of teachers in Sindh would be put before the cabinet after legal consultation. The objective of the conference was to provide an opportunity for healthy discussion and suggestions for further improvement in the teacher training sector."

On this occasion, it was also said that "the provincial government was working on a plan to start a master's degree programme for teachers' trainers in collaboration with Oxford University and social organisation Durbeen."

Education Minister Shah said, "the problem of a shortage of teachers in government schools had been solved, but there was a need to improve the quality and training of the newly recruited teachers."

"It is our duty to fulfil the responsibility of free education as per the Constitution in a better way, but to achieve this we need the help of civil society and other stakeholders," he remarked.

He complained that Sindh's education policies were criticised a lot although it had outperformed other provinces in the field of education.

Shah thanked the representatives of Oxford University and Durbeen and said the support and guidance in the master's degree programme would further improve this profession.

In a dialogue session during the conference, the need for training teachers according to modern methods was emphasised for the development of education. 

Three senior faculty members from the University of Oxford in London are visiting Pakistan to attend the conference organised by Durbeen — a non-profit organisation established with the goal of raising the quality of education in government schools across Pakistan.